Asia and Pacific Region Forum

In March a law in China has gone into effect that makes it so any website hosting mp3 files has to get license for hosting mp3 files.

Can someone provide more details on this & suggest ideas on how to get around this while still following to the law, for example is it ok to host the mp3 files on another company which has a mp3 license or a site hosted outside China & link to these files ...

I wonder who thought this up and about the actual details. I guess it has to do with tightening state control over the Internet under the "disguise" of compliance with international copyright. I'd really like to see the detail regulations on this one. For example, if I put up an interview with a business partner in MP3 format, do I need a license? What if I put it up in ogg format? Bureaucrats are laggards all over the whole. But did they screw up this one so badly like your wording seems to suggest?

Are there any online references to this new legislation (in English preferably)?

Just recently we've seen the Chinese government give up on controlling bloggers [webmasterworld.com] who were supposed to register their real names. Is this legislation really any different? As Leggewie points out, there are many potential loopholes in this sort of law. Who's going to be the arbiter on personal files and file types? I think they'll find this sort of law just as difficult to enforce, if not moreso, than the blogger registration law.